Syosset Fire Department to Participate in Statewide Firefighter Recruitment Drive

The will join hundreds of fire departments across New York State this weekend participating in the first-ever statewide volunteer firefighter recruitment open house effort. 

The SFD will be hosting their local recruitment open house this Sunday morning, April 10 from 10 am to 12 p.m. at SFD Headquarters, located at 50 Cold Spring Road - across from

"We'll have an information session to meet some of the members, ask them questions," said Dep. Chief Peter Silver. 

The Recruit NY program has been created by the Firemen's Association of the State of New York (FASNY) to help provide New York's 1,800 volunteer fire departments with the tools and support they need to go out and recruit new volunteer firefighters in their respective communities.

Potential new members can also try on firefighting or EMS gear, tour the station and learn more about the SFD's equipment and apparatus as well as the day-to-day responsibilities of being a volunteer firefighter or EMS provider in Syosset.

"We provide complete, extensive training," Silver said. "And we will provide all materials and gear."

Not only will Recruit NY be an opportunity to highlight the duties and rewards that come with being a volunteer firefighter, it will also raise public awareness about the need for volunteers.

"It's important for us - we had more than 2,100 alarms that we went to last year, alone," Silver said. 

This is a new approach by fire service leaders to increase volunteer membership numbers across the state. For the first time, the Firemen's Association of the State of New York, the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs, Association of Fire Districts of New York State, Volunteer Fire Police Association of the State of New York and County Fire Coordinators Association of the State of New York have joined forces to assist fire departments in expanding their recruitment efforts.

The pilot program provides fire departments with recruitment resources, communication tools, and tips to help them conduct an open house at their firehouse over Recruit NY weekend or for future recruitment efforts. All of these materials can be accessed on the FASNY-designed website, http://recruitny.org/.

"Volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel do important and challenging work for the pure satisfaction of helping others," said FASNY President David Jacobowitz. "They are essential for a number of reasons, including the fact that volunteers live in the communities in which they serve, which greatly enhances response times, and their volunteer service saves taxpayers millions of dollars every year."